Some printers are of the serial type in which the printing head is moved at a right angle with respect to the feeding direction of the recording paper.
In a printer of this type, it has been proposed that a platen facing the printing head be rotated in the printing operation (as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 41285/1984).
Due to the rotation of the platen, according to this structure, the printing energy can be augmented by low power without applying a high drive voltage to the printing head. Especially in an impact type structure, the copying ability (in terms of the number of copies) can be improved by little power to provide an economic advantage.
According to this structure, however, the platen has to be rotated at a high speed in accordance with the printing operation of the printing head so as to augment the printing energy effectively. This raises a problem that the structure is complicated.
In view of the above, therefore, the present invention has as an object to provide a serial printer which can augment the printing energy with a low power and with a simple structure.